"A lot has changed," Paul Walker tells Vin Diesel as they're about to take part in yet another illegal street race.

A lot, that is, apart from the incessant shots of feet on clutch pedals, high speed chases through traffic, women in tight tops and short shorts bumping and grinding to an R&B soundtrack, Diesel's droning voice, cars barrel-rolling before exploding, and the storyline: undercover law-enforcement agent infiltrates the world of late-night car duels.

Really, the most dramatic change is to the title ? "the" is dropped not once, but twice.

Over-familiarity aside, the series' fourth instalment still has some fuel left in the tank. In fact, 'Fast & Furious' pulls off in a cloud of burning rubber with a high-speed oil tanker heist so frenetically destructive that even James Bond would be impressed. It's 10 minutes of heart-in-your-mouth madness that only threatens to stall when the climax's CG effects blast onto the screen.

And it all goes slowly downhill from there. The foot comes off the accelerator and attention shifts to a sub-'Point Break' plot involving Walker's fed duking it out with Diesel's gold-hearted criminal.

Both men want the same thing ? to bust a drug lord with a ridiculously elaborate approach to smuggling ? and so, once again, find themselves striking up a begrudging partnership in a world of pink slips, nitrous turbo boosters, hot lesbians, and visuals out of a PlayStation game.

Impossible physics of 'Speed Racer' aside, the perilous chases through underground tunnels and an after-dark demolition derby on the streets of LA momentarily push the needle back up towards the red.

But there's simply too much emphasis on Walker seemingly auditioning for the lead on a TV cop show ('Homicide: Life On The Streets'?) with his rooftop footchases and run-ins with colleagues.

With an old romance to rekindle on the side, at least he's given more to do than Diesel ? who just scowls a lot ? but, limitations to their characters aside, the return of the series' original stars does lend some street cred to this retread.

Fast and furious? More like formulaic and forgettable.